The Diaries and Letters of Admiral Albert Hopman

Albert Hopman, Michael Epkenhans. Das ereignisreiche Leben eines "Wilhelminers": Tagebücher, Briefe, Aufzeichnungen 1901 bis 1920. München: Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 2004. 1231 S. EUR 49.80, cloth, ISBN 978-3-486-56840-0. Reviewed by Cord Eberspaecher Published on H-German (March, 2007) The German naval officer corps considered it‐ work is a combination of biography and biograph‐ self the "Elite des Kaisers."[1] During the reign of ical documents and Epkenhans has used a combi‐ Wilhelm II, however, the Imperial German Navy, nation of valuable and rare material. In addition which had always taken second place in public to the official documents of the navy stored in the notice to the admired Prussian army, rose from its German military archive in Freiburg im Breisgau, modest origins to symbolize German imperial am‐ he also made use of Hopman's diaries there and bitions. A high-ranking officer of the Imperial Ger‐ enhanced the documentation he provides with man Navy like Admiral Albert Hopman might be private points of view drawn from the correspon‐ thought of as the quintessential "Wilhelminian." dence between the admiral, his wife and their el‐ The navy's vision was broader than that of many dest son. The book has two parts, frst a long bio‐ German politicians of the time and, from Crown graphical article, followed by the much longer col‐ Prince Wilhelm to the Social Democratic politician lection of documents. The documents are listed in Georg Ledebour, it was believed that naval offi‐ chronological order, but not numbered. To help cers held a wider view of the world than their the reader through this mass of paper, an exten‐ comrades in the army and were able to look "be‐ sive index of persons has been added. yond the barrack square." A closer look at a per‐ Reading through the volume shows how re‐ sonality like Albert Hopman thus promises inter‐ warding it is to look at the elites of the Kaiserreich esting insights into the military policy and social "from the second row" (p. 1). Hopman rose to the life of the later German Kaiserreich. highest ranks, but did not belong to the circle of The frst impression a reader gets from this the most prominent fgures and his name is not as biographical volume on Albert Hopman is that the familiar today as admirals like Alfred von Tirpitz book is heavy. Its sheer weight testifies to Michael or Reinhard Scheer. His career was typical in Epkenhans's efforts in writing and compiling a many respects; he advanced through the ranks huge amount of material about Hopman's life. The and switched frequently between duty at sea and H-Net Reviews in the admiralty in Berlin. He was also given ex‐ about the Bolshevik threat. During the July Crisis ceptional positions and assignments, such as his of 1914, Hopman had not acted as a warmonger. detachment as naval attaché in Port Arthur dur‐ On July 21, he wrote to his wife that he did not be‐ ing the Russo-Japanese War[2] or his attachment lieve Europe would go to war because of Serbia to the General Staff in the early phase of World (p. 392). From the very beginning of the conflict War I. Hopman was important enough to have at‐ he did not share the optimistic notions of many tained entry into the inner circles of German poli‐ Germans. He saw the war as a disaster and in tics and of course, mainly, the Imperial Navy. March 1916 wrote to his wife that Germany could Though he was neither an intellectual nor a liber‐ at best get out of the war with a draw and should al and in the question of the German feet he was be glad if the result was not even worse (p. 790). loyal to his superior, Tirpitz, he can still be consid‐ The volume provides material to those inter‐ ered a critical and independent commentator. ested in German naval policy, politics and social Epkenhans rightfully portrays Hopman as a history. Hopman was close to Tirpitz and wit‐ typical man of his age. Born in 1865, he had just nessed the buildup of the German navy, the nego‐ reached the higher stages of his career after the tiations with Great Britain and also the difficult beginning of Wilhelm II's reign in 1888. Hopman position after the outbreak of World War I, when felt at home in the politics of the later Kaiserreich, the navy was forced into a passive role. The vol‐ during which as large parts of the Bürgertum ume also includes rich material on German poli‐ were concerned about colonial policy, feet build‐ tics, although it is, of course, closely connected to ing and the general necessity of Germany's strug‐ naval policy. Interesting in this respect is, for ex‐ gle for a "place in the sun." Like Max Weber, he ample, Tirpitz's plan in spring 1915 for a coup to had been socialized during the reign of Wilhelm I; remove Wilhelm II from office. The perspective both men shared the understanding that Ger‐ provided by Hopman's personal documents gives many's unification had been only the foundation lively information about Hopman's experiences of this new period and that the tasks for their gen‐ and views. He was a good observer and his writ‐ eration were still to come. Hopman shared the ing is interesting and entertaining, which makes views of Tirpitz, under whom he had worked in the book much better reading than one might ex‐ the Reichsmarineamt. pect. In other respects Hopman was less typical, My only regret is that more documents from which makes his diaries and letters even more in‐ Hopman's earlier career could not be included. teresting. During his career he grew increasingly The edition concentrates on politics before, dur‐ skeptical of Germany's political system, especially ing and after the war, with the most emphasis, of the monarchy as represented by Wilhelm II. He over 700 pages, falling on the war alone. More in‐ had seen the vanity and high-handedness of the formation about the earlier period surely would kaiser well before 1914 and the monarch's miser‐ have provided more insight into German naval able failure during the war disillusioned him history beyond the well known paths of Tirpitz even more. As early as the Moltke-Harden Trial of and his High Seas Fleet. The editor does, however, 1907, Hopman had thoughts about the desirability have the available sources on his side, as the only of a purely parliamentary system; after the war diary left before 1904 is from 1885. This edition had started, he even considered the development draws attention to the rich body of "ego docu‐ of democracy (p. 35). These ideas did not mitigate ments" in German archives still waiting to be pub‐ his desire for a strong leader in the 1920s, a senti‐ lished. Epkenhans points out that a great deal of ment fed continually by his growing anxiety rich material remains to be excavated in the Mili‐ 2 H-Net Reviews tary Archive alone (p. 5). This volume is a good ex‐ ample how rewarding it can be to make these pa‐ pers available to academics and a wider audience. Notes [1]. Holger H. Herwig, Das Elitekorps des Kaisers (Hamburg: H. Christians, 1977). [2]. Cord Eberspaecher, "The Road to Jutland? The War and the Imperial German Navy," in The Impact of the Russo-Japanese War, ed. Rotem Kowner (London: Routledge, 2007), 290-305. If there is additional discussion of this review, you may access it through the network, at https://networks.h-net.org/h-german Citation: Cord Eberspaecher. Review of Hopman, Albert; Epkenhans, Michael. Das ereignisreiche Leben eines "Wilhelminers": Tagebücher, Briefe, Aufzeichnungen 1901 bis 1920. H-German, H-Net Reviews. March, 2007. URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=12994 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 3.

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